Daily Archives: July 11, 2017

What is the National Space Council and what will it do for the future of space exploration? A look back through history provides some possible answers.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Behind the podium is the Orion spacecraft flown on Exploration Flight test-1 in 2014.

NASA / Kim Shiflett

As President Donald Trump signed the order on June 30th re-activating the National Space Council, he suggested that the council would be a central hub guiding space policy. What are the prospects that, as Vice President Mike Pence recently claimed, With the guidance of the National Space Council, the United States of America will usher in a new era of space leadership that will benefit every facet of our national life? To gain a sense of the councils possible impacts, its useful to see this act in a historical context.

Its important first to understand that the National Space Council itself is just a committee of top-level administration officials. That committee, with Pence as its chair, will include the head of NASA, the Secretaries of State, Defense, Commerce, Transportation, and other cabinet departments, the Director of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and, from the White House, the National Security Adviser and the Directors of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The council will have a full-time staff of unspecified size, headed by an Executive Secretary. It is that individual, and his or her staff associates, who will be the key players in carrying out the ambitious tasks assigned to the council. The council will also have a part-time Users Advisory Group, composed of representatives of industries and other persons involved in aeronautical and space activities.

Given the senior status of its members, and the reality that they have many other things to do besides space policy, the space council is unlikely to meet frequently. When its members do gather, they will discuss and decide on proposals reflecting the work of council staff and resulting from interagency discussions of the diverse policy issues in the space sector.

This is the third time a National Space Council has existed. The first council was created on congressional initiative as part of the 1958 Space Act and existed until President Richard Nixon abolished it in 1973. Fifteen years later, Congress recreated the council, and it was activated in 1989, in the first months of the George H.W. Bush administration. That council was de-activated in January 1993 as part of President Bill Clintons campaign pledge to reduce the size of the White House and Executive Office staff by 25%.

The space council has had some success stories along the way. In 1961 the council organized the consultations that led to President Kennedys decision to go to the Moon, and in 1962 had a major role in shaping the framework for a commercial communications satellite industry. During the Nixon administration, the council had no visible impact on post-Apollo decisions, but in 1989, council staff working with NASA crafted the Space Exploration Initiative announced by President Bush. The council also took the lead in space engagement with Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Those successes, however, were not been enough to establish a space council as an essential element of space policymaking. Eisenhower, whom the Space Act had made the council chair, did not hire a staff and never called a council meeting. President Kennedy revised the legislation to make the vice president the council chair, but after 1961 he often bypassed Vice President Johnson and the space council staff in making his space choices, preferring to depend on his science and national security advisers. After Johnson became president, he gave little attention to space issues and his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, did not make space policy a major focus of attention. By the time Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, the council was essentially moribund.

The Nixon administration initially hoped to revitalize the space council, hiring Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders as Executive Secretary. Anders was able to carve out a useful lower-level role in post-Apollo decisions, but working through Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had no policy clout, as council chair was too much of a burden, and it was Anders among others who recommended in 1972 that the council be dissolved.

During the 1989-1993 Bush administration, as the council was re-activated, Vice President Dan Quayle took his role as chair seriously and assembled a politically astute, substantively qualified, and activist staff. The incoming Clinton administrations decision to de-activate the space council was more a case of change for changes sake than a negative judgment on the efficacy of the Council mechanism.

A concept image of SLS/Orion on the launch pad. NASA / MSFC

What does this compressed historical review suggest are the prospects for the Trump/Pence National Space Council? First of all, there is a pressing need for coherence in managing the increasing complex U.S. space enterprise. With NASA hoping to resume human travel to distant destinations, with national security dependent on space capabilities, with the space environment increasingly congested, competitive, and contested, and with a multi-faceted U.S. private space sector emerging, coordination becomes imperative. The time is ripe for a well-crafted national space strategy that takes all of these factors into account. The opportunity for the National Space Council to develop that strategy and oversee its implementation is clear.

That will happen only if the new council has the active support of President Trump and becomes a major element of Vice President Pences portfolio. Assembling a highly qualified Space Council staff is of course essential, but that staff can be effective only if it is seen as having White House political support as it attempts to influence agency behavior.

In July 6th remarks at the Kennedy Space Center, Vice President Pence quoted President Trump as saying that the United States was going to be leading in space like weve never led before.Whether this is more than rhetorical boasting is yet to be seen, but if renewed space leadership does become reality, it is likely that the revived National Space Council will be key to that achievement.

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Third Try at a National Space Council - Sky & Telescope

Chicago Tonight | WTTW

Chicago Astronomer to Create Plan for Human Exploration of Mars Chicago Tonight | WTTW Using the library's unique collections of materials on domestic and international policies governing space exploration, Walkowicz will create an inclusive framework for human exploration of Mars, according to a press release from the Library of Congress.

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Chicago Astronomer to Create Plan for Human Exploration of Mars - Chicago Tonight | WTTW

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao, second from right, attends GLEX 2017. Credit: International Astronautical Federation

This articleoriginally appeared in the June 19, 2017 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

Beijing this month hosted the Global Space Exploration Conference, GLEX 2017, an occasion which China used effectively to declare its goals for space and call for further engagement with the space community.

Hosted by the International Astronautical Federation and Chinese Society of Astronautics , the event was the perfect setting, with around 1,000 participants, including heads of agencies, industry representatives, scientists and policy makers in attendance.

There were no startling new announcements from China, but together the presentations reaffirm what is a comprehensive and cohesive vision for space activities, which have both clear direction and apparent backing at the highest levels of policy making, and display growing confidence and capabilities.

Robotic and human roadmap

Chinas robotic exploration roadmap features the nations first independent interplanetary mission, to Mars in 2020, followed by near-Earth asteroid exploration, a mission to the Jupiter system, a Mars sample return around 2030 and a later mission to seldom-visited Uranus.

Except for Uranus, these missions have either been officially approved, are already being studied or are mentioned in key documents such as the space white paper released in December. But there are new, interesting details.

A presentation on Chinas deep space plans before 2030 by Li Chunlai, deputy chief designer of the Mars 2020 mission, emphasized the Jovian moon Ganymede as a main target for the Jupiter mission, noting its potential habitability, and identifying its ice layer, topography, morphology and structure for examination.

These efforts are joined by a lunar exploration program that will be expanded beyond the Change-5 sample return mission, scheduled for late November, to include at least three further probes likely to focus on the poles and possibly involving in-situ resource utilization objectives.

In human spaceflight, China remains committed to establishing a decade-long permanent presence in low Earth orbit with its Chinese Space Station. Sun Weigang, chief engineer at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), said launch of the 20-metric-ton Tianhe core module is on track for 2019, once the 5B variant of the new Long March 5 rocket is proven and ready.

Yang Liwei, who in 2003 became Chinas first astronaut to visit space on a Chinese spacecraft, revealed that 10-12 astronauts will be selected soon. Chinas third astronaut class, he said, will include two women and will look beyond just air pilots in order to meet the research requirements of the Chinese Space Station.

After this, China is very much looking to the moon, with Yang stating rather vaguely that it would not be long before a program to land Chinese astronauts or yuhangyuan on the lunar surface receives official approval and funding, though a mission is not expected before 2030.

To this end, China is studying development of a launcher to rival the United States Apollo-era Saturn 5/ Tentatively named Long March 9, it has planned lift capability of 140 tons to LEO. In addition, China is developing two versions of next-generation crewed spacecraft for deep space missions. Guo Linli of the China Academy of Space Technology presented a concept for a lunar base at Sinus Iridium, with analysis of the expected Change-5 samples to aid the next research steps, including generating oxygen from lunar soil.

Shen Lin, deputy chief researcher at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), revealed that the concept currently being considered for crewed lunar landings involves an Earth-orbit rendezvous following launches of a Long March 9 and a human-rated Long March 5B, before entering lunar transfer orbit.

The reaction to the plans was measured. Theyre clearly progressing in human spaceflight, and are now moving on to the Chinese Space Station, said Kathy Laurini, a NASA senior adviser for exploration and space operations. Looking to beyond-low-Earth-orbit exploration, they also recognize like we do that this is the next step, and its a worthy endeavor due to the benefits it will bring to our citizens.

Calls for cooperation, necessary competition

GLEX 2017 had opened with an address from Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao, which included the reading of a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping. In a call for international collaboration that would be echoed throughout the event, both from Chinese speakers and agency heads, Xi declared that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the international community for a better future for all humankind.

Xi has shown his support through speaking to orbiting Chinese crews and promoting the China space dream, a celestial twist on his political vision . However, help is needed from elsewhere.

Cooperation is one way in which China aims to achieve its science and exploration goals, which require serious resources and innovation. Partnerships could help China in reducing overall economic costs for its increasingly broad and diverse programs, also including its Beidou guidance and navigation satellite system, weather satellites and other Earth-observation systems. It also brings political benefits at home and abroad, valuable experience and potentially new technologies that could boost its progress.

The Chinese Space Station is to be opened to payloads and even astronauts from other nations especially developing countries where China tries to position itself as a global leader through an agreement with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Change-4, an unprecedented lander and rover mission to the lunar far side in late 2018, will feature science payloads from Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Chinas partnership with the European Space Agency continues to deepen, with further cooperation on space science and the Change lunar missions, and soon human spaceflight.

Karl Bergquist, ESAs international relations administrator, explained on the sidelines of the GLEX conference that ESA and the China Manned Space Agency are working towards a detailed agreement to fly a European astronaut on the Chinese Space Station once it is completed. China is open to coordinating its lunar ambitions with the Europeans as called for by ESA Director-General Johann-Dietrich Woerners Moon Village concept.

This underlines the major progress that China has made in a relatively short time. While the number and rate of human spaceflight missions has been low, Chinas capabilities have developed rapidly to allow it to position itself as a major space power and leader.

The ultimate objective of Chinas cooperation push is likely to be achieving active partnership with the clear world leader, NASA. However, the issue of technology transfer, either sanctioned or illicit, that could benefit a space program that is closely tied to Chinas military, remains a clear barrier. Since 2011, U.S. law has banned NASA from engaging in bilateral agreements and coordination with its Chinese counterparts.

It was also apparent in Beijing that China understands it needs to compete in some areas.

Senior figures at CALT, the maker of the Long March family of launchers, underlined in a forum on low-cost access to space that it needs to reduce launch costs, referencing the staggering breakthroughs by U.S. private players SpaceX and Blue Origin. In reaction, CALT is researching reusability through the use of parachutes, re-startable engines and space shuttle-like horizontal landings, and examining its design, manufacture, launch site and management costs. These represent major challenges, but do not alter the fundamental plans.

Its nascent space science program has demonstrated cutting edge capabilities, and last week saw the launch of the fourth and final mission of an initial batch, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope. Development of and studies into the next two rounds of space science projects are already underway. Wu Ji, director of Chinas National Space Science Center in Beijing, stressed that now is the time for China, as a major economy and global power, to contribute to human knowledge.

Steven Eisenhart, senior vice president at the Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, said China is making steady progress establishing a diverse space program. What were seeing now are plans that were laid out a long time back and are now being executedwith the progress being pretty consistent to what theyve been saying, he said.

While elsewhere debates over the moon and Mars continue, Chinas direction for the next decade and more looks set.

With backing from the political leadership, apparent consensus among the Chinese government, scientific and other space sector actors, the countrys steady yet impressive progress should continue.

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In Beijing, China rolls out the red carpet and a comprehensive space plan - SpaceNews